AACTA Awards controversy as director faces sexual assault charges
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts has defended its decision to include a film whose Mormon director is facing more than 50 sexual assault charges in its awards ray ban sale online this year.

Scott's basketball drama Spirit of the Game is among 24 films announced as being in the running for the sixth AACTA awards in December. Scott, also known ray ban 4118 as Darran Scott and Dan Scott, is accused of assaulting 15 boys aged between 11 and 15 when ray ban aviator polarized he was coaching two junior football clubs in Melbourne while a high ranking member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. One of his ray ban eyeglass frames alleged victims recently took his own life. Academy chief executive Damian Trewhella says that with only charges against Scott at this stage "the matter is before the courts to determine the outcome and the film is to be judged on its own merits". Written and directed by Scott, the film tells the real life story of a team of Mormon basketballers who helped the Australian team prepare for the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. It stars Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Aaron Jakubenko, Mark Mitchell, Anna McGahan and former Boomers player and coach Lindsay Gaze. Scott, who has also acted in such TV series as Carson's Law, The Henderson Kids and Underbelly, told a Mormon publication in the US that he "received direction from the Lord" in making the film. Among the feature films still to be released are Nicholas Verso's drama Boys in the Trees, which, like Hacksaw Ridge, is having its world premiere at the coming Venice Film Festival, Michael Rowe's drama Early Winter, Stephen Sewell's erotic thriller Embedded, Sam and Tom McKeith's Filipino boxing drama Beast and Sotiris Dounoukos' drama Joe Cinque's Consolation. The comedies and comic dramas in the running include Abe Forsythe's Down Under, which opens this week, Stephan Elliott's yet to be released A Few Less Men, Rosemary Myers' Girl Asleep, Matthew Saville's A Month of Sundays, Paul Ireland's Pawno, Ben Chessell's Sucker and David Parker's The Menkoff Method. There are also three horror films Kiah Roache Turner's Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, Luke Sparke's Red Billabong and Cameron and Colin Cairnes' Scare Campaign as well as Stephen Page's dance film Spear. AACTA's Damian Trewhella says the list includes many first time directors and many low and mid budget films. "We had close to 40 films altogether which we've whittled down to 24," he says. "So there's a lot of film being made out there, which is fantastic." Two highly anticipated films fall outside the release dates, which would make them eligible Kriv Stenders' Red Dog: True Blue, which is out on Boxing Day, and Garth Davis' Lion, which opens in January.
Corden to play Peter Rabbit
New role in Animal Logic movie. James Corden with Michelle Obama on Carpool Karaoke.
James Corden, the Carpool Karaoke host whose movies include Into the Woods and Begin Again, is to star with Rose Byrne in the Peter Rabbit movie which is heading to Sydney. As revealed in Short Cuts in March, American director Will Gluck's The Never Before Told True Story of Peter Rabbit, which blends live action and animation, will be made by Animal Logic as it finishes The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie. Corden will be Peter Rabbit with Byrne playing a live action role in what's described as a modern interpretation of Beatrix Potter's tale centring on the rivalry between a mischievous young bunny and a man trying to keep him out of his garden. The casting comes as Animal Logic announces a new academy to train animation and visualisation talent at the University of Technology, Sydney. Chief executive Zareh Nalbandian tells Short Cuts the UTS Animal Logic Academy will offer a masters program for up to 50 students from next year.

"We're calling it animation and visualisation because we're part of a bigger visualisation industry which is a growth industry worldwide," he says. "What we do is for the entertainment industry and it takes the form of visual effects and animation but it has a huge overlap with games, interactive content and these days virtual reality and augmented reality [which are going to be used] for storytelling [and] everything from medicine to architecture to mining."Local NRLTournamentsCricket HQFooty HQ TVAFL Tournament.